School sends out text warning after 10-year-old boy chased by clown

A school has warned parents to be on their guard after a 10-year-old boy was chased by somebody dressed as a ‘scary clown’.

Bolton-le-Sands Primary School sent out a text advising mums and dads to walk with their kids to and from school in case of further clown pranks.

Tim Cross, head teacher of Bolton-le-Sands Primary School.

The warning comes amid growing concerns after an outbreak of incidents across the UK where culprits scare people while dressed as creepy clowns.

Head teacher Tim Cross said frightened pupils were being counselled at school about the clown craze.

The incident happened on Mount Pleasant Lane at around 4pm on Tuesday.

A police spokesman said they had two reports of a 10-year-old boy being chased by one or two people dressed as clowns.

Pennywise the clown from Stephen King's horror novel It is believed to be one of the inspirations behind the scary clown craze.

The spokesman said there was no suggestion the culprits were out to hurt their victim.

Bolton-le-Sands school then sent out a text to parents asking them to “supervise your children before and after school, ensure the older children don’t walk home alone and report any incident to the police directly”.

Tim Cross, head teacher at Bolton-le-Sands Primary, said: “We will talk to any child who has concerns about this and do everything we can to support children in school.

“We have a mentor in school who has spoken to children this morning.

A Facebook screen shot of a text message sent to parents at Bolton-le-Sands Primary School after an incident where somebody dressed in a clown mask chased a pupil.

“We are making it clear that we don’t see the humour in this at all.

“Our number one goal is to keep children safe and keep parents informed of any issues or anything they may need to act upon.

“Some of the older children will sometimes walk to school on their own and that’s great, but there has been an incident, so we’re saying it might be sensible for them not to be alone.”

A parent of a child at Bolton-le-Sands Primary, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “The kids are all talking about it at school.

“I think it needs to be downplayed, though, and stop being talked about at school so kids don’t think it’s funny to try to dress up as clowns and scare people.

“One parent said she was going to go into the school to check if it was safe for her child to go in.

“Because it’s a small village, there are children who walk to school on their own who are younger than the age you would expect that to happen.”

“People are saying if they see somebody dressed as a clown they might get a hiding, but what if the clown is a child?”

Meanwhile a parent posted on a Facebook thread about the Bolton-le-Sands incident that her son had been “jumped” in Carnforth by somebody dressed as a clown.

She said her son was now “having nightmares” and called for the craze to be stopped.

These latest incidents come days after Morecambe Area Police put out their own warning about the clown craze.

“We’ve had several reports of people dressed as clowns going around scaring folks, its a craze going round the world!” said their Facebook post on October 8.

“However please be aware, you could scare the wrong person and end up with an unintended outcome. Surely there’s enough clowns in Morecambe already?”

Reported clown-related incidents last weekend included one at the Battery in Morecambe, a reported sighting of a clown going to a house on Carleton Street in Morecambe and a clown with a torch was reported on James Street in Morecambe jumping out at children. Police said no arrests had been made.

Meanwhile the manager of a Morecambe fancy dress shop said there was no major rise in demand for clown outfits this year. Lisa Glover of Fonzies Fancy Dress Hire said clown costumes are always popular at Hallowe’en. She said she’d noticed no more than “a couple of teenagers” asking for scary clown masks this year.